Filter.



W. M. JEWELL.

FILTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAYIs. 1913.

Lllg. Patented Oct. 26, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. l@ a OOOooOOoGooo'ooo GOOG COLUMBIA PMNOIJRAPH C0..WASHINGTON, n. c.

W. NI. JEWELL.

FILTER.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I5. I9I3.

Patented Oct. 26, 1915.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

Z'vzesw! w @ha in lerici.

WILLIAM JEWEL@ or same@ remesa; esmero@ T0; JEWELL Elieleeaeme COMPANYQF. sarees-0, IeLINOIS., Ai cereerleli QF ILLINOIs Erminia.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Uct. 26, 1915.

Amasaee1-eere 1571m- Sefial li@ 767.80.7-

To all whom i?? may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM M. Jnyvnnn, a citizen of theJ United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, haveinvented a new and useful lmprovement inv Filters, of which thefollowing isa specification.

My invention relatesz more( particularly to filters of the type"employing a" granular filter-'bed through which the liquid t0 beiilteredpercolates and wherein provision is made for reversing theVflow1 ofliquid through the filterbed t0 cleanse it of the impuritiesremoved from thyejlquid filtered therein. 'l

Filters of the above-referred to. type as heretofore commonlyconstructed` employ a relatively large number of for controlling thesupply of unfiltered water; Ato the filter, the supply of filteredwaterY thereto for washing purposes, the control of the wash-wateroutlet and eommunicatipn between the filter vand the storage tankfor thefiltered water, theuse of siich'valvesfpresenting many disadvantageschieiiy among which are the relatively highfcost for the valves, thenecessity 0f usine e relatively large vamount of piping, thelossoff'time rin manipulating the valves, the costof labor required insuch operation andthe loss of water, the disadvantages arising freni theemployment of valves as stated,"beiiig especially pronounced where thefiltering appa,- ratus is employed for filtering water. on a largescale, as for example. in the `ltratieii ofthe water supply ofa city.V H

My object is to provide improvements in filters of the type abovereferred to., to' the end of reducing the cost of construption andloperation, thereof, conserving the water and preventing. contaminationthereof, roducing reversal of 4operations in the filtrer without unduelossfofltime."

Referring to, the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinalbroken sectional view in elevationof a.A filter apparatus vconstructedin accordance with invention. F ig. 2 is a section taken the line Q onFig. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 isv a sectiontaken atv the line 3 on Fig. 1 andviewed in the direction of the arrow,Fig. 4 is a viewsimilartq Fig,

1 of a.4 filtering apparatus constituting another Vembodiment of myinvention; and lig. 5,'a broken view in longitudinal vertical sectionalelevation of a modification of valve'for controlling the iiow of waterte4 be filtered into the filter.

While my improved apparatus may be employed where the lter element is`provided as aA single unit, and where the apparatus is to be' of eitherlarge or small capacity, it is especially adapted for and primarilydesigned to be used where a plurality oftfilter units are employed andwhere the filteringY apparatus is, required to have rela tively greatcapacity, the one filtering unit illustrated'in the drawings, however'being suflieient to illustrate my invention.

Referring particularly `to y the apparatus illustrated in Figs, 1, 2,and 3, the filtering' chamber into which the water lto` be filteredis'vintreduced, as hereinafter described, is represented at 7 and isformed fwalls, 8, 9., lOa'ndll, preferably of sheet steelembedded attheir lower edges in a concrete floor section. l12, which latter issupported from walls 13 forming a chamber 14 beneath the filter-chamber7 for receiving the filtered water discharged from the` filter-chamberas hereinafter described?.

The, type of filter illustrated is ccmmonly known as the gravity type,the filterrbed of which isK preferably formed` of a layer of coarsegravel 15 on which is superposed a layer 1:6 of sand of the desireddepth., tlrreiigliy which sand and gravel, the water tolbe filtered,percolates for the. separation therefrom of its contained impurities,the water tliiis filtered thence flowing from the filter tothe point ofstorage er use.

ln the apparatus illustrated thechamber 7 centains a pipe '17 extendinglengthwise thereof andis. provided at intervals with depending. nipplesV18 which "open into braiichfpijres 19 each provided at intervals 0',itsunder side with perforated heads 20, `hrese pipes, which constitutethel means for collecting the filtered water, beingpreferalcly"soIarranged that the heads and pip,es 1,9 will be buried in the coarsegravel l`5 `111 the arrangement illustrated a tank adjeins thefiltervchainber 7, this tanliibeing provided fork the purpose of miXingwith the water to be filtered a coagulating substance, as is the commonpractice in water filtration, though my invention is not limited to theuse of such a tank. The tank 21 opens into a. pipe 22 which extendslengthwise of the filter-chamber 7 and is provided with outlets 23 atintervals along its upper side, whereby the filter-chamber 7 is chargedwith water to be filtered from the tank 21. In the'arrangement shown,the water is maintained in the tank 21 at a level considerably above thelevel 'to be maintained in the filter-chamber 7, and to provide for themaintenance of the water in the chamber 7 at the desired level, the pipe22 is equipped with an automatically operating valve represented at 24,that shown being a standard balanced double-disk float valve.

The pipe 17 opens into a pipe 25 which latter opens into the casing of apump indicated at 26, the suction end of the pump in the particulararrangement shown in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, opening into a pipe 27, whichextendsv into and communicates with the interior of the filtered-waterchamber 14. Any suitable fluid-moving mechanism and operating meanstherefor may be employed, that Villustrated representing diagrammatically a ycentrifugal pump driven by an electric motor indicated at 28.

In the operation of the apparatus illustrated, water constantly flowsfrom the tank 21 through the pipe 22 into the filter-eham ber 7 tomaintain the water therein at the level indicated in Fig. 2, the waterin the chamber 7 percolating by gravity through the filter-bed formed ofthe gravel 15 and sand 16, f rom which it flows in puried condition intothe heads 20 and pipes 19 and thence into the pipe 17 from which itdischarges by gravity through the pump 26 (the pump in this operationbeing idle), and thence through the pipe 27 intothe filtered waterchamber 14. The filtering action just described is permitted to continueuntil the impurities removed from the water by the filter haveaccumulated in the latter to such a degree that cleasing of thefilterbed is desirable, whereupon the pump 26 is started, by theoperator, or by any desirable automatic mechanism (not shown), toproduce a counterflow of filtered water through the pipes 27, 25' and17, together with the water-collecting branches of thelast referred topipe, which causes wash-water to flow upwardly through the gravel andsand bed in the chamber 7 with a velocity, as is well understood in theart, sufficient to separate the grains of sand in order that they may bewashed free of the deposits thereon. The wash-Water. thus introducedinto the filter may be conducted away from the latter by overflowinginto troughs 29 at a level above the unfiltered water level maintainedin the filter-chamber 7 during the filtering operation by the action ofthe valve 24, the said trough communicating, through openings 29a in thewall 8, with a channel 30 forming l a drain, which may, if desired, leadto a sewer, it being understood that as the valve 24 serves to permitwater to enter the chamber 7 from the chamber 21, only when the waterlevel in the chamber 7 drops below that indicated in Fig. 2, this valvewill automatically close and remain closed during the operation ofwashing the filter as described, thus shutting off the supply of rawwater to the filter and preventing the wash water from being forced intothe raw Water tank 21.

It will be understood from the foregoing that the operation of the pump26 for causing a current of water to flow from the filtered water supplyinto the collecting pipes of the filter in a direction reverse to thattaken by the filtered water in fiowing from the filter into the tank 14,automatically, so to speak, not only causes filtration to bediscontinued, but also operates to shut ofi' the supply of unfilteredwater to the filterchamber 7.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a modification of the apparatus shown inthe preceding figures. In this case the storage tank for the filteredwater, instead of being located below the filter and receiving thefiltered water by gravitation from the filter, is located above thefilter and fluid-moving means are provided for lifting the filteredwater into the tank, In this arrangement the maindraw off pipe of thefilter for the filtered water is represented at 31, this pipecorresponding to the pipe 17 and connecting with a pipe 32 opening intothe filtered water tank 33, and containing a pump 34; driven in anysuitable manner as from an electric motor 35, the pump 34 being of suchconstruction as will cause it, when operated, to pump water from thepipe 31 into the tank 33, but permit water from the tank 33 to flowthrough the pipe 32 into the pipe 31 and thence through the filter, whenthe pump is idle.

The means for supplying the filter-chamber 7 with water to be filtered,the means for collecting the filtered water in the chamber 7, and themeans for disposing of the washwater, are the same as those described ofthe s' construction illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3, the onlydifference being that the positions of the tank 21 and trough 30 arereversed to reduce to the minimum exterior exposure of the piping to theaction of water outside of the filter-chamber 7.

It will be readily understood from the foregoing that the operation ofthe construction just described is the same as that of the precedingfigures, excepting that during the @assess filtering operation the pumpis operated to raise the water into `the tank when it is desired thatthe 'filter be washed the pump Si isA stopped, thuspermitting fil- -ftered water from the chamber 3Std gravity into the filter-chamber 7, asex.- plained in connection with the previously described construction.

It will be understood that where the water enters the filter-chamber 7from a tank such as the tank 2l, wherein thewater isto` be maintained ata level above that desired to be maintained in the thamber. 7.; theValve 24 of the type illustrated, 0I any other` suitable water-levelcontrolling means, may be provided.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a form of valve which may be used Where the"source of water supply for the chamber 7 is main-l tained at a levelcorresponding with the level at which it is desired that the water inthe chamber 7 be maintained. This valve, which is in the form of aswinging checkvalve and represented at 36, is interposed in the pipe 22,it being understood that in this case the tank 2l would have the watertherein maintained at a level corresponding with the level of the waterto be maintained in the chamber 7. Under some conditions it may bedesirable to locate the filter and the filtered-wafter-receiving chamberon substantially the same plane and in such case it would be necessaryto provide means for forcing the filtered water into thefilteredwater-receiving chamber during the filtering operation and toforce filtered water back into the filter for Washing out the latter..any desirable means for thus driving the water may be provided, suchmodification of the apparatus illustrated being within my invention.

The provision of fluid-moving means in the filtered Water outlet fromthe filter is of importance in filtering apparatus, as it dispenses withthe use of certain valves which in large liltering plants are ofrelatively great size and thus expensive to install and operate. Theprovision of a washivater outlet in the filter-chamber above the levelat which the water is maintained in the latter during the filteringoperation, is also of practical importance in filtering ap-` paratus, asby this feature certain other valves, as heretofore commonly provided,are dispensed with. Furthermore, by constructing a filtering apparatusin accordance with my invention., the amount of piping required to beused is reduced to the minimum with consequent advantages and the amountof pipe area subjected to surrounding water is likewise reduced.

IVhile I have illustrated and described certain specific constructionsconstituting embodiments of my invention, I do not Wish to be understoodas intending to limit it to such construction, as the same may bevariouslymodified and altered without departing from thel spirit of myinvention', it being my' intention to claim my invention as fully andcompletely as the prior art will permit. VVha-t I claim as new anddesire to secure by Letters Patent` is:

In a filteringy apparatus the combination of a chamber containing a.filtering-bed, means for supplying water to be filtered to said chamber,means for conducting the filtered water away from said bed, means forcausing` wash-water to pass throughsaid bed in a ydirection opposite tothe flow of water therethrough in the filtering operation.

through the same conducting rmeans and overflow from said chamber, andmeans for preventing the incoming water to be filtered from rising insaid chamber to the point of overflowof the wash-water therefrom.

2. In a filtering apparatus the combination of a chamber containing afiltering-bed, means for supplying water to be filtered to saidchamber', means for conducting the filtered water away from said bed,means for causing wash-water to pass through said bed in a directionopposite to the flow of water therethrough in the filtering operationthrough the same conducting means and overflow from said chamber, andmeans operating automatically to close said chamber to the supply ofincoming Water to be filtered when the water in said chamber reaches apredetermined level below the point of overflow of the wash-watertherefrom.

3. In a filtering apparatus, the combination of a chamber containing afiltering-bed, a conduit communicating with said chamber for conductingthe filtered water therefrom, and fluid-forcing means in said conduit,for the purpose set forth permitting a free flow of Water therethroughwhen idle.

4. In a filtering apparatus, the combination of a chamber containing afiltering-bed, a filtered-water receiving reservoir, a conduit leadingfrom said filtering chamber into said filtering water reservoir forconducting the filtered water to the latter, and fluidforcing means insaid conduit, for the purposeset forth permitting a free flow of watertherethrough when idle.

5. In a filtering apparatus, the combination of a chamber containing afiltering-bed, a conduit communicating with said chamber for conductingthe filtered water therefrom, and fluid-forcing means in said conduitconstructed and arranged to permit the filtered Water to flowtherethrough in one direction when said means are idle and to forcefiltered Water through said conduit in the contrary direction when saidmeans are operating.

6. In a filtering apparatus, the combination of a chamber containing afiltering-bed, a reservoir below said chamber for the fil-' tered Water,a conduit leading from said lli@ filtering chamber into said reservoir,and fluid-forcing means in the same conduit for forcing Wash-Water fromsaid reservoir into and through said bed.

7 In a filtering apparatus, the combination of a chamber containing afiltering-bed, a conduit communicating with said chamber for conductingthe filtered Water therefrom, and means in the same conduit for forcingWash-vvater through said conduit in a direction opposite to the flo-W ofltered Water therethrough.

8. In a filtering apparatus, the combination of a chamber containing afiltering-bed, a valveless conduit communicating With said chamber forconducting the filtered Water therefrom, and means'in the same conduitfor forcing Wash-Water through said conduit in a direction opposite tothe fioW of filtered Water therethrough said means permitting a freeflow of Water therethrough when idle.

9. In a filtering apparatus, the combination of a chamber containing a.filtering-bed and having a fixed overfiow, means for supplying Water tobe filtered to said chamber, means for conducting the filtered wateraway from said bed, means for causing wash- Water to pass through saidbed in a direction opposite to the fioW of Water therethrough in thefiltering operation and pass o'ut through said overflow, and means forpreventing the Water to be filtered from rising in said chamher to thelevel of said overflow.

VILLIAM M. JEVELL.

In presence of- D. C. THoRsEN, O. C. Avisos.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for :five cents each, byaddressing the Commissioner of Patents,

l Washington, D. C.

